Opining on the Winter Olympics Women's Event (part 2): Greatness in the midst of crisis

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Who could’ve ever predicted the conclusion - at least for the time being - of the saga and media spectacle that has been Kamila Valieva’s positive doping test news? As an already surreal Olympics became downright depressing during a night when Valieva had a devastating on-ice meltdown in her free skate, Alexandra Trusova had an off-ice meltdown after realizing she had not won gold as she thought she had, and Anna Shcherbakova completely unable to properly celebrate her Olympic win because of all the chaos around her.

Let’s also not forget that amid all of this, Trusova and Shcherbakova became the second and third women to land quads in Olympic competition, and Trusova herself delivered - technically - her best free skate of the season.

But the issues - including doping and coach-pupil power dynamics - are being talked about ad nauseum on plenty of channels, so I’d rather talk about the great skating that has been overshadowed by this entire episode. These performances deserve their time in the spotlight.

The pride of Japan

The top two names from Japan did not disappoint at all. Wakaba Higuchi hit another triple axel in her free skate after becoming the fifth woman in Olympic history to land on in her short. Her Lion King free skate is among the most impeccably composed pieces of work of the season. Two skaters later, Kaori Sakamoto, third after the short completed her second Olympic experience with another flawless skate. Likely not even knowing that she had a chance at the podium given her technical content compared to the Russian trio, she put it out there and skated for herself.

When she realized that she was the Olympic bronze medalist - the fourth Japanese woman in history to earn an individual Olympic medal - she was the happiest skater on the podium. And the first skater to congratulate her after she finished the mascot ceremony? Wakaba Higuchi.

Underrated and undermarked

Skating for Russia until just this season, Anastasiia Gubanova likely never thought an Olympic experience was passible for her. But now the best women’s skater in Georgia, Gubanova has had the privilege of skating both in the Team Event and in the individual event - all three programs done incredibly well, and as she’s been in the past, underscored in components. Her skating is magnificent, and the judges should take note.

Olympic moments

Let’s also talk about the joy of the Olympic moment - making it to the ultimate competition and giving it your all on center ice. Eliska Brezinova, Alysa Liu, Mariah Bell, Yelim Kim, Young You, Ekateriina Kurakova, Loena Hendrickx, Lindsay van Zundert - so much good, satisfying energy out there for these skaters who left it all out there and gave themselves, and us all, moments to remember.

Never count her out

A lot of people - myself included - continue to think that Shcherbakova can’t pull more rabbits out of her hat. And considering how poor her practices have been, it really seemed unlikely that she would be able to pull off a good performance. But like at Russian Nationals for multiple years, like at last year’s World Championships when she won, she had an incredible skate that vaulted her to the top of the podium. She continues to play the role of the underdog who proves everyone wrong.